Digest for 08-28-12

MONTICELLO — The top three moments from each Great American Conference school from the 2011-12 academic year have been nominated for consideration for the inaugural GAC Fan Moment of the Year award.

Arkansas-Monticello’s top three moments are: the football team’s 23-9 win over then-ranked No. 4 Valdosta (Ga.) State, the softball team outscoring opponents 27-3 during its conference championship run and softball player Kayla Jackson being named the inaugural GAC Female Athlete of the Year.

Fans can vote for their favorite moment by visiting the GAC Facebook page: www.facebook.com/greatamericanconference.

LOCAL

White Hall downs Mayflower

WHITE HALL — White Hall rebounded from a first-set loss to take the next three and defeat Mayflower on Monday in high school volleyball.

A three-run top of the sixth inning pushed North Arkansas College ahead of the Pine Bluff Braves in the first game of a doubleheader Sunday, and the junior-college team went on to 4-3 and 5-2 victories, sweeping the three-game weekend series.

Sebastian Stargell Sr. held NorthArk to four hits in seven complete innings of the first game. James Mitchell batted in Pine Bluff’s first run to tie the game at 1, Julian Mateo followed Trey Austin’s triple with a sacrifice fly to give the Braves a 2-1 lead in the third, and Austin hit an RBI grounder to score Nic Anderson in the seventh pull the Braves within a run.

NorthArk pitcher and former Braves player Jeremy Brann pitched the first three innings of the second game and went on to get the victory. Pine Bluff scored both its runs in that game as Austin crossed the plate on a fielding error and Nathaniel Thompson III came home after reaching on a fielder’s choice.

NATIONAL

Stosur starts title defense victoriously

NEW YORK — Samantha Stosur of Australia defeated Petra Martic of Croatia 6-1, 6-1 to begin defense of her U.S. Open tennis championship.

Russian Maria Sharapova and Belgian Kim Clijsters also won their first-round matches in straight sets.

In men’s action, Mardy Fish of the U.S. won his first two sets over Japanese Go Soeda in tiebreakers before finishing him off in the third set, 6-3. American Jack Sock swept German Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-2, 3-2, and Bobby Reynolds needed five sets to defeat Tim Smyczek in an all-American match.

Ko, 15, wins LPGA event

Tiger Woods first won on the PGA Tour until he was 20, and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy was 19 when he managed a European Tour success.

Neither can rival the prodigious Lydia Ko, a New Zealand golfer on a record-breaking rise.

Ko’s three-shot victory at the Canadian Women’s Open, four months and two days after her 15th birthday, made her the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history, and the first amateur to win on the U.S. circuit since JoAnne Carter in 1969.

It has been a stellar year for the South Korea-born teen, with her record-breaking success coming two weeks after her triumph at the U.S. Amateur Championship and seven months after she became the youngest woman to win a pro tournament at the New South Wales Open.

“It feels amazing,” she told New Zealand Golf’s official website after Sunday’s landmark win, capped off with a final 5-under-par round of 67.

Watney cashes in at Barclays

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Nick Watney started the PGA Tour playoff season with a three-stroke victory in The Barclays at Bethpage State Park.

Watney finished at 10-under, beating Brandt Snedeker by three strokes. Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson tied for third at 6-under, with Lee Westwood and Louis Oosthuizen finishing at 5-under.

Tiger Woods was 1-over for the tournament and 5-over in the final round.

— Staff and wire reports

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